Apparatus for opening collapsed cartons



Nov. 19, 1963 AKE H. e. BIRCH-IENSEN EIAL 3,111,066

APPARATUS FOR OPENING COLLAPSED CARTON-S 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 5, 1962 mm wm um 1963 AKE H. G. BIRCH-[ENSEN ETAL 3,111,065

APPARATUS FOR OPENING COLLAPSED CARTONS Filed June 5, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 3

66 M/M'M 1M1; mlj

United States Patent 3,111,066 APPARATUS FUR ()PENING COLLAPSED CARTONS Ake Hans Gustaf Birch-'Iensen and Gerhard Bjiirk, Arlov,

Sweden, assignors to Svenslra Sockerfabrihs Aktiebolaget, Malmo, Sweden, a corporation of Sweden Filed June 5, 1962, Ser. No. 200,191 Claims priority, application Sweden June 7, 1961 2 Claims. (Cl. 93-53) This invention relates to an apparatus for opening a collapsed carton having substantially rectangular cross section in opened condition and crease lines marking the longitudinal edges of the opened carton.

In prior-art apparatus for this purpose opening of the cartons is realized by means which are either introduced into the collapsed carton or exert a pressure on two opposite folding edges of said carton, and to which is imparted a positive movement by a separate drive in synchronism with the feed of collapsed cartons to the station where opening of the cartons is to be realized. These apparatus, however, are relatively complicated, and difficulties are experienced in having them operate in a satisfactorily reliable manner.

The object of the invention is to provide an apparatus which does not present these drawbacks.

The apparatus suggested by the present invention is of the previously known type in which a magazine for receiving a pile of collapsed cartons is disposed above the path of motion of an endless conveyor comprising a number of transverse troughs distributed in the path of motion of said conveyor and having open ends and at least approximately the same cross-sectional shape as the opened cartons, said pile of collapsed cartons in said magazine having the folding edges extending longitudinally of said troughs and said magazine having a mechanism for delivering the collapsed cartons one at a time at the lower end of the pile in such a manner that each delivered carton is dropped into a passing trough with the rear folding edge, as viewed in the direction of motion of the conveyor, as the leading edge.

According to the invention, the characteristic features of such an apparatus reside in that for opening the carton in each trough by the application of pressure to the opposite folding edge of the collapsed carton there is placed in, or slightly above, the path of motion of said troughs an abutment which can be resiliently moved out of the way and which is adapted through the movement of said troughs along their path of motion to engage the said opposite folding edge and after the opening of the carton thus realized resiliently to engage the upper side of the opened carton, pressing the latter doum in said trough.

These and further features of the invention and the adventages thereof will appear from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic vertical sectional view of an apparatus according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the delivery mechanism comprised in said apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a view of part of the delivery mechanism as it is shown in FIG. 1 but on a larger scale.

The apparatus illustrated in the drawing is part of a packaging machine for sugar cubes and is intended for opening of collapsed cartons having rectangular cross section in the opened state for ranged packing of sugar cubes which, arranged in a number of superimposed rectangular layers, are pushed into the opened carton through one open end thereof whereupon the carton is closed by end flaps thereof being folded down on top of each other and glued together.

The apparatus comprises an endless conveyor belt 3,1 1 1,066 Patented Nov. 19, 1963 having horizontal upper and lower runs, which is a known manner passes over return pulleys mounted in the packaging machine. In the drawing only a portion of the upper run of said conveyor belt is shown, which run moves from the right to the left as viewed in FIG. 1 and as indicated by an arrow in this figure. Said conveyor belt has a number of transverse troughs 11 regularly distributed in the path of motion of said belt and having open ends and approximately the same crosssectional shape as the opened cartons, the side walls of the troughs having on the inner sides a bevel 11' at the free edge thereof.

Mounted above the conveyor belt 10 is a magazine for collapsed cantons, comprising four vertical angle bars 12 which are secured with the lower ends to a horizontal plate 13 which is rigidly mounted in the packaging machine in a manner not shown in detail. The space defined by the angle bars 12 is conformed to receive a pile of collapsed cartons 14 with the two folding edges extending longitudinally of the troughs 11 (perpendicularly to the plane of the paper in FIG. 1) and connects up to a corresponding opening 15 in the plate 13 for allowing the collapsed cartons to pass therethrough. A? mechanism for delivering the collapsed cartons one a a time at the lower end of the pile in said magazine, includes a slide 16 which is movable between the plate 13 and a lower plate 17 which is also rigidly mounted in the packaging machine, said slide being of the same thickness as a collapsed carton. An opening 18 is pro vided in the slide 16 and another opening 19 in the plate 17. The edges of the opening 18, which extend perpendicularly to the plane of the paper in FIG. 1, are disposed at a relative distance corresponding to the width of the opening 15 at least over a central portion of the length of said edges, and the opening 19 at the edges extending at right angles to the plane of the paper in FIG. 1, has a pair of narrow supporting surfaces 29a and 20b arranged inside the opening 15. Otherwise the openings 18 and 19 may be of a length and a width equal to or larger than the length and width of the opening 15. The slide 16 is movable between the two plates 13 and 17 to and fro along the path of motion of the conveyor belt 10 (to the left and the right as viewed in FIG. 1) by means of a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder 21. By this displacement the slide can be brought out of the righthand end position shown in FIG. 1, in which the left hand edge of the opening 18, which extends transversely of the slide movement, is flush with the edge of the lefthand supporting surface Zfia, and moved through an intermediary position (shown in FIG. 2 and in which the openings 15 and 18 are in exact register) to a lefthand end position in which the right-hand edge of the opening, which extends transversely of the slide movement, is flush with the edge of the right-hand supporting surface 2%, and vice versa. When the slide 16 is in the right-hand end position shown in FIG. 1 the lowermost collapsed carton rests on the slide 16 with its front left-hand folding edge (as viewed in the direction of motion of the conveyor belt 10) and on the right-hand supporting surface 20b with its rear right-hand folding edge (as viewed in the direction of motion of the conveyor belt 10). When the slide 16 is now moved to the left the leftahand folding edge of the lowermost carton will fall down onto the left-hand supporting sur face 20a when the opening 18 is in exact. register with the opening 15 so that in this position of the slide the lowermost carton is supported by the two supporting surfaces 20a and 20b. A continued movement of the slide to the left will result in the lowermost carton being pushed by the slide 16 in between the plates 13 and 17 at the left-hand folding edge while the right-hand folding edge is moved away from the right-hand supporting surface 20b, thus entirely loosing its support. The carton 14 will then depend from the delivery mechamsm with its right-hand folding edge so that when the slide 16 returns to the right-hand end position shown in FIG. 1, the left hand folding edge of the carton being moved away from the left-hand supporting surface 20a, the carton will fall down onto the conveyor belt with the right-hand folding edge as the leading edge. The operation of the cylinder 21 is so coordinated with the func tion of the conveyor belt 10 that the lowermost carton 14 in the pile is allowed to fall down when a trough 11 is in such a position relative to the delivery mechanism that the falling carton comes to rest substantially diagonally in the trough, as is illustrated for a carton 14 in FIG. 1. By the described movement of the slide 16 the next oar-ton tube in the pile is placed with the left-hand folding edge on the s1ide 16' and with the right-hand folding edge on the right-hand supporting surface 2%. As the edges of the opening 18, which extend transversely of the direction of motion of the slide 16, alternately project in between the lowermost and the lowermost but one cartons in the pile, said edges should be slightly bevelled or rounded in the upper side of the slide, as is indicated in an exaggerated manner in FIG. 3, in order not to damage the cartons.

For opening of the collapsed cartons which are delivered and allowed to fall in sequence into the troughs 11, the apparatus includes an abutment situated in the path of motion of the troughs 11 after the delivery mechanism, which abutment can be resiliently moved out of the Way. The abutment is carried by a rail 22 fixedly arranged in the packaging machine and extending across the conveyor belt 10 at some distance above it. On the upper side of said rail one end of a substantially U-shaped leaf spring 23 is secured by means of a screw clamp device 24 so that the spring projects in an are against the direction of motion of the conveyor. The other end of the spring 23 is formed with an angula-rly bent. end portion 25 which constitutes the abutment proper and which extends into the path of motion of the troughs 11 and is bent forwardly as viewed in the direction of motion of the conveyor belt 1%) at the free end to form a downwardly facing rounded surface 26. At the upper edge the side walls of the troughs 11 are formed with a notch 27 to allow the spring 23 to pass when the troughs travel past it. 7

When the delivered collapsed cartons are advanced towards the spring 23 lying diagonally in the troughs as is shown in FIG. 1 for carton 14, the left-hand folding edge as viewed in FIG. 1 will engage the abutment 25 so that a pressure is exerted against this folding edge. Between the corner formed between the bottom of the trough and the right-hand side wall thereof and the corner formed between the abutment 25 and the remaining leaf spring 23, thecarton will be subjected to pressure against its two folding edges according as the conveyor belt 10 advances. Provided that the spring 23 is of sufficient rigidity the carton is caused to be opened by the action of this pressure so that it occupies in the trough 11 the opened position shown by dash and (lot lines 14" in FIG. 1, the spring 23 finally yielding and sliding with the surface 26 onto the upper side of the opened carton to press it down in the trough. The distance between the side walls of the trough in immediate proximity to the bottom thereof is so dimensioned that the opened carton is held slightly clamped between the side walls which constitute abutments retaining the carton in the opened condition. During the continued movement of the conveyor belt the opened cartons are conveyed through the packaging machine for the insertion of the sugar cubes arranged in layers into the carton through one end thereof.

Of course, the invention must not be considered limited to this very embodiment as it can readily be modified within the scope of the appended claims.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. An apparatus for opening a collapsed carton which has a substantially rectangular cross section when it is opened and having crease lines marking the longitudinal edges of the opened carton, said apparatus comprising an endless conveyor, a plurality of troughs carried by said conveyor in a path of motion and said troughs being positioned on said conveyor transversely of their direction of motion in the path, said troughs having open ends and substantially the same cross-sectional shape as the opened cartons, a magazine positioned above the path of motion of the troughs for holding a pile of collapsed cartons with the folding edges extending longitudinally of the troughs, a delivery mechanism on the lower edge of said magazine for delivering the collapsed cartons one at a time from the lower end of the pile for causing each delivered carton to fall down into a passing trough with the rear folding edge, as viewed in the direction of mo tion along the path, as the leading edge, and a fixedly secured leaf spring projecting into the path of movement of the collapsed cartons and having an angular bent portion having a reentrant corner opening toward the cartons moving along the path of motion to be engaged by the leading edge of the cartons in said troughs moving along the path, the leaf spring thereby forming an abutment for opening the collapsed carton by a pressure on said folding edge, and said leaf spring having a curved portion which is slidable, along with said reentrant portion, against the upper side of the opened cartons during their passage past said leaf spring for pressing the cartons down in the troughs.

2. An apparatus for opening a collapsed carton which has a substantially rectangular cross section when it is opened and having crease lines marking the longitudinal edges of the opened carton, said apparatus comprising an endless conveyor, a plurality of troughs carried by said conveyor in a path of motion and said troughs being positioned on said conveyor transversely of their direction of motion in the path, said troughs having open ends and substantially the same crosssectional shape as the opened cartons, a magazine positioned above the path of motion of the troughs for holding a pile of collapsed cartons with the folding edges extending longitudinally of the troughs, a delivery mechanism on the lower edge of said magazine for delivering the collapsed cartons one at a time from the lower end of the pile for causing each delivered carton to fall down into a passing trough with the rear folding edge, as viewed in the direction of motion along the path, as the leading edge, and a U-shaped leaf spring having a first limb fixedly secured at the free end thereof and projecting from said end in a direction opposite the direction of movement of the conveyor, and having a second limb projecting into the path of movement of the collapsed cartons and forming an angular bent portion having a reentrant corner opening toward the cartons moving along the path of motion to be engaged by the leading edge of the cartons in said troughs moving along the path, the leaf spring thereby forming an abutment for opening the collapsed carton by a pressure on said folding edge, and said leaf spring having a curved portion which is slidable, along with said reentrant portion, against the upper side of the opened cartons during their passage past said leaf spring for pressing the cartons down in the troughs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,243,199 Evans May 27, 1941 2,441,372 Quigley May 11, 1948 2,619,882 Rohdin Dec. 2, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 562,701 Germany Nov. 1, 1932 

1. AN APPARATUS FOR OPENING A COLLAPSED CARTON WHICH HAS A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR CROSS SECTION WHEN IT IS OPENED AND HAVING CREASE LINES MARKING THE LONGITUDINAL EDGES OF THE OPENED CARTON, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING AN ENDLESS CONVEYOR, A PLURALITY OF TROUGHS CARRIED BY SAID CONVEYOR IN A PATH OF MOTION AND SAID TROUGHS BEING POSITIONED ON SAID CONVEYOR TRANSVERSELY OF THEIR DIRECTION OF MOTION IN THE PATH, SAID TROUGHS HAVING OPEN ENDS AND SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME CROSS-SECTIONAL SHAPE AS THE OPENED CARTONS, A MAGAZINE POSITIONED ABOVE THE PATH OF MOTION OF THE TROUGHS FOR HOLDING A PILE OF COLLAPSED CARTONS WITH THE FOLDING EDGES EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY OF THE TROUGHS, A DELIVERY MECHANISM ON THE LOWER EDGE OF SAID MAGAZINE FOR DELIVERING THE COLLAPSED CARTONS ONE AT A TIME FROM THE LOWER END OF THE PILE FOR CAUSING EACH DELIVERED CARTON TO FALL DOWN INTO A PASSING TROUGH WITH THE REAR FOLDING EDGE, AS VIEWED IN THE DIRECTION OF MOTION ALONG THE PATH, AS THE LEADING EDGE, AND A FIXEDLY SECURED LEAF SPRING PROJECTING INTO THE PATH OF MOVEMENT OF THE COLLAPSED CARTONS AND HAVING AN ANGULAR BENT POR- 